Pi Network price continued its strong downtrend and reached a record low of $0.100, with its market capitalization nearing the crucial point of $1 billion. This plunge means that investors have lost close to $18 billion since its mainnet launch last year, despite the substantial upgrades the team has made. This article looks at how we got here and whether the token will ever bounce back.
Why Pi Network Price Plunged
Pi Network has become one of the biggest failures in the crypto industry. Launched in 2018 by two Stanford University graduates, its goal was to become a better alternative to Bitcoin.
Unlike Bitcoin, which needs high-end mining machines, Pi would be mined using any smartphone. Also, its transaction costs would always be tiny and the coin would be available globally, including in village shops.
That promise took off, and within years, Pi had millions of miners, who are known as pioneers. These pioneers aimed to mine as many coins as possible and benefit when the they became available in exchanges.
After years of delay, the mainnet launch happened in February last year, with the coins becoming available in several exchanges like MEXC, OKX, and Bitget. The coin jumped initially, reaching a high of $3.
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After that, the downward trend started, possibly as some of the pioneers started selling their coins. At the same time, millions of pioneers were locked out because of the rigorous KYC process that aims to validate each pioneer.
Also, the big ecosystem that users were promised was not there, while the network maintained its centralization. In this, all decisions are made by the team and the obscure Pi Foundation that holds billions of tokens. Unlike other decentralized projects, there is no voting here, and the team controls all the tokens, which explains why some major exchanges have resisted listing it.
Pi Has Launched Key Initiatives, But the Train Has Left the Station
Meanwhile, the team has launched several major initiatives, but by look of things, the train has already left the station. Millions of users who passionately followed Pi have moved on to other assets.
One of the main developments is that the team launched a major upgrade to align it with Stellar’s developments. It recently concluded the v25 upgrade, a move that has introduced smart contracts to the platform.
Pi aims that the network to now be a competitor to Ethereum and other layer-1 chains like Solana and Base. Still, the reality is that this industry is highly competitive and many chains that have attempted to take on Ethereum have failed. This includes chains like Ziliqa, IOTA, Berachain, and Unichain.
At the same time, Pi aims to launch its launchpad, where developers will be able to launch utility tokens, which will be traded on the PiDex. Many analysts we talked to believe that this approach will likely not succeed, which explains why it is yet to be launched.
Pi has made other announcements, including its investment in OpenMind and CiDi Games. Its investment in OpenMind introduced a concept where miners would participate in the ecosystem by contributing resources. CiDi Games has already launched several games in the ecosystem. After the initial success, it is unclear how many people are still playing them.
Most recently, Pi launched SoloHost, Pi Sign-in, and PiVerify, in a bid to grow its ecosystem. Again, analysts we talked to believe that these products will likely not gain traction.
Will Pi Network Price Rebound
Pi has faced other challenges, including the daily token unlocks that have boosted its supply at a time when demand has faded.
Contributing to the crash is the fact that Bitcoin and other altcoins have been in a strong downward trend.
The most likely scenario is that Pi will continue falling over time. However, as we have seen in the past, it will often have some short-term rallies as investors buy the dip.
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